Pokemon Rose
by Hopedruid
Summary: Join Kale as he journies to become a famous coodinator and trainer. Many battles, contests, friends, pokemon and challenges are to follow.
1. Chapter 1

Kale woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was morning, and it was time for his pokemon adventure to finally begin. He looked around at his room, all his pokemon memorabilia, all the posters of famous coordinators and trainers and their teams. His plushies of some of his favorite pokemon. He was leaving all this behind to pursue his fortunes elsewhere. In the contest halls and the league.

Kale was finally going to become an official pokemon trainer.

"Well, Druid. Looks like today is the day." Kale said. His Ralts, who was laying on it's own bed at the foot of Kale's, gave out a sleepy cry. As if to say he would rather start his adventure later, thanks.

"Cmon, Druid. It's a big day. We're going to start our adventure together. Doesn't that sound like fun?" Kale asked. Druid, again, gave out a sleepy cry, which resembled a weary affirmative.

Kale got ready, putting on his white jacket over a green t-shirt and carrying his large bag and wearing his very own trainer hat. He was ready for anything this day could bring him. Or at least...he thought so. He grabbed Druid and headed down the stairs.

His dad was in the kitchen. Humming to himself loudly. Kale began creeping along. Hopefully, he could get out before his dad notic-

"Oh Kale darling! Off on your adventure so soon? You haven't even had breakfast." His dad said, appering as if out of nowhere. Kale hated when he did that.

There he was, up bright and early, in a white dress and heavily made up. Bothering him.

"It's fine dad. Really. I'm all good." Kale said. He needed to get out the door or his father would delay him all day.

"Really? You don't want a bite? I've made up your favorites." He said.

"No. I can take some on the go. But I really should be going. Mom is waiting." Kale said.

"It won't be the same on the go. Come on. Let your daddy feed you." He said.

"Ew. That sounds gross. Please just let me go. Mom won't like if I'm late." I said.

"Alright then. Have a good day. But please come back to say goodbye." His dad said, pouting a bit. His dad could be so clingy.

Kale was out the door quickly. He needed to head for his mother's lab across town. It wasn't a large town, so he didn't have to travel too far. Still he wanted to get his pokedex and get out of town as soon as possible. It was a quiet morning so he didn't get too many nosy questions, that he usually would expect

Kale was halfway there before he was stopped.

"Hey Kale! Let's battle." Called a familiar male voice. Arceus, he was so annoying, Kale thought. Why did he even bother?

"Ryan...I don't have time for this." Kale said.

"You don't have time for a battle? What are you scared?" Ryan said, chuckling to himself. Ryan was always such a tryhard.

"No. I'm going to my Mom's lab to get my pokedex and start my journey." Kale said.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm going to be starting my own journey today too. So come on and battle me Kale. I'll 6-0 you." He said, a pokeball clutched firmly in his hand.

"Ryan, we both only have one pokemon." Kale said.

"Whatever. Let's just fight!" Ryan said.

"Ok. Sure whatever." Kale said.

"Yes! You're about to get rekt! Go Koffing!" He shouted. Kale sighed.

"Go Druid. I guess." Kale said, letting Druid down. He looked quite annoyed himself.

"Koffing use tackle!" Ryan said. The Koffing tackled but Druid nimbly dodged it. Then it tackled again. Again Druid doged. Finally, the Koffing managed to catch Druid and knock him back a ways, doing some significant damage.

"Druid, you ok?" Kale asked. It nodded.

"Ok then. Let's end this. Druid use confusion!" Kale said. Druid nodded and concentrated on the Koffing, in a moment a purple glow was emitted around the smiling poison pokemon and it fell to the ground, quite clearly unconscious.

"What? Damn it. You've beaten me again!" Ryan said.

"Yeah. It's 25-0. Poison is weak to Psychic, and your training hasn't done much to alleviate that weakness. Come on Druid." Kale said, Picking up his ralts again and walking off. Ryan just cursed, withdrew his Koffing and walked back to his place.

His mother's lab was at a beautiful location. It had quite a lot of space for his mothers pokemon to roam around. Trees and bushes, berry and otherwise, were abundant. It also had a nice view of the town from the top floor.

When he entered the lab, he saw his mother collapsed on the floor and a woman about his age standing above her.


	2. Chapter 2

When he entered the lab, he saw his mother collapsed on the floor and a woman about his age standing above her.

"Ah! This-this isn't what it looks like I swear!" The girl said practically jumping out of her skirt.

"What does it look like?" Kale said.

"Th-that I might have hurt the Professor! But I didn't I swear! She just collapsed out of nowhere!" She said.

"Don't worry. She should be fine. My mother tends to overwork herself. There should be chocolate in the top drawer of her computer desk. Grab that and I'll wake her up. She should be fine in a few minutes." Kale said.

She blinked her big pretty blue eyes.

"Oh! Ok. I'll do that immediately." She said and ran off. Swaying her hips as she did so, her skirt fluttering. She had great taste, Kale thought, and a nice bottom. But Kale shook himself off his lust for fashion and female rears to help his mother wake up.

"Mom, you ok?" Kale asked, shaking his mother awake. She was wearing her labcoat over a t-shirt and jeans, and had short red hair. She grumbled unintelligibly as she woke.

"...Huh, Kale?" She said, squinting awake.

"Yeah. You passed out in front of someone. A new trainer, I would think." Kale said.

"Oh! That's right. I must have scared her. I'm such an idiot. But you know me. Always working hard." She said with a grin, scratching her head and chuckling.

"Here you go, Professor Yew." The blonde girl said, handing over the chocolate to Kale's mother. She really was a beauty, Kale thought.

"Thanks, sweetie! You're a real cutie you know that? Boys and girls go crazy after you, I'm sure." Yew said, as she happily took a few bites of the chocolate bar. The girl blushed slightly.

"Thank you Professor Yew, but I'm not quite sure people go crazy over me." She said.

"Oh, they will." Yew said, looking her up and down.

"S-so, this is a new trainer as well? Or...?" The girl said.

"Oh! I totally forgot to introduce you two. Kale, this is a new trainer, Regina. Regina, this is my son Kale." Professor Yew said. Regina blinked.

"Son...oh I see. Nice to meet you Kale." Regina said, and bowed slightly in an elegant fashion.

"Nice to meet you too." Kale said. Druid let out a faint cry.

"Oh! And who is this cutie?" Regina said, her eyes lighting up.

"Uh. That's Druid. He's my Ralts. He's been my pokemon for a while now." Kale said.

"He's adorable!" Regina said.

"I know. I only hope others think so. I'm going to become a contest trainer or coordinator." Kale said.

"Oh that's so interesting! Myself and Mudkip are going on a journey too. Though I'm not quite sure what I want to accomplish... I'll probably start with the league challenge." Regina said.

"I wanted to end up doing that as well. I feel like contests will prepare my pokemon for battle and vice versa." Kale said.

"Hm. That might be true." Regina said thoughtfully.

"You know. The two of you are both setting out on a journey. Why not go together?" Yew said as she grabbed a couple Pokedexes.

"I-I would be up for it. As long as Regina is fine." Kale said.

"Sure. That sounds like fun! I've always wanted to travel with companions as well as with pokemon." Regina said with a smile.

"Then it's settled, my son gets to travel with a top-notch grade A hottie. I'm a bit jealous." Yew said. Kale blushed and shook his head. Regina just smiled a bit awkwardly.

"W-well, I hate to be rude but I think we should probably get going. So may we please have those pokedexes." Regina said.

"Oh! Of course. Here you are. And one for you too Kale." Yew said passing them over.

"Thanks." Kale said.

"This will be a great help for our journey. Thank you so much Professor Yew." Regina said. Yew nodded.

"It's no problem. I give a Pokedex to all of the most promising young trainers." Yew said.

"Most promising...that's very nice but...how do you know I'm so promising?" Regina said.

"You seem to care about your pokemon. You care about other people. And your excited to start your pokemon journey. Your even willing to team up with a total stranger, because your a good judge of character. If you work hard, you'll be great, I know it. I've got great intuition." Yew said.

"I see. Thank you very much." Regina said, bowing again.

"Besides, your an absolute babe. And all the hot girls I know are great trainers." Yew said with a wink and a thumbs up.

"Please excuse my mother. She's a good person but also a huge perv." Kale said.

"I-I see." Regina said.

"Well, then you two should probably head off then. You want to make some good progress before it gets dark." Yew said.

Just as she finished her sentence, the three heard a strange sound.

"Do you...hear that?" Kale said.

"That sound...it sounds like..." Regina said, tilting her head.

"Cracking. Hold on, that would be my pokemon egg." Yew said, snapping to attention and rushing to another room of her lab. The two trainers could hear a loud scuffle going on as she was attending to her business.

"Should we go?" Regina asked.

"Give her a few minutes." Kale said. Kale wanted to see what was going on.

Yew eventually dragged herself out of the room, looking a bit worse for wear.

"Professor! Are you alright?" Regina said.

"Y-yeah. Turns out that newly hatched pokemon sure is a handful." Regina said.

"What kind of Pokemon is it?" Kale asked.

"See for yourself." Yew said, shuffling a bit out of the way and pointing behind her.

"A-A Snivy." Kale asked. There stood one of the grass snakes shuffling around. But Kale had been around the species a lot, and there seemed to be a couple things off about it.

"But it's coloration is unusual. Could that be-?!" Regina said.

"Yes, he just so happens to be a Shiny. Pretty crazy huh?" Yew said with a broad smile. The Snivy, who had been avoiding eye contact with the humans, suddenly looked up into Kale's eyes. The creature began shuffling towards Kale.

"Wow. He was pretty hostile towards me but he seems to like you." Yew said. Kale kneeled and began carefully patting the Snivy on the head. The Snivy instantly took to it. Druid, however, let out a low cry and Snivy retreated quickly from it.

"Hey, Druid, what's the big deal?" Kale said. Druid let out another low cry. Clearly, Druid didn't like this Snivy.

"I-I think the little guy is jealous." Regina said.

"Well, he's going to have to get used to it. Considering your taking Snivy along with you." Yew said.

"Really? Your just giving him to me?" Kale said.

"Why not? He seems to like you the most." Yew said.

"Yeah. I suppose so." Kale said.

"I think the two of you will make excellent partners." Regina said. Druid practically hissed.

"Poor Druid here seems pretty unhappy though." Kale said.

"Don't worry. It's pretty common for pokemon to not get along at first. But as they work together as a team they should get used to each other and bond. You'll see." Yew said.

"Ok then. I'll need a pokeball for the guy though." Kale said.

"Here then, take this." Yew said, grabbing a black and gold pokeball from her coat.

"Wait this is a...Luxury ball." Kale said.

"Yeah. I feel it's fitting enough. Your Snivy's well bred and is a Shiny besides. I think it will do well inside one of these." Yew said.

"Ok then. Thanks. Snivy, Return." Kale said and tossed the ball at Snivy, without a struggle the Snivy went in the ball. Kale grabbed the ball and put it in a pocket of his large handbag.

"Cute bag." Regina said. Kale blushed and muttered thanks.

"Keep in mind, you shouldn't treat Druid with kid gloves forever. He's going to have to learn to deal with Snivy's presence. And the presence of other pokemon as well." Yew said.

"Got it." Kale said.

"Now you two get your cute butts out of here and make me proud." Yew said.

"Ah. Ok, thanks for everything Professor Yew." Regina said with a formal bow.

"Yep, thanks Mom. See ya." Kale said walking off.

Those two would do all right, Yew thought.

She hoped so anyway.

The first thing the two saw as they exited the lab, was a man dressed in women's clothing. Namely Kale's father. Standing with his hands on his hips. Kale inhaled sharply. Oh no, this couldn't be good.

"Hello darling. You weren't thinking you could get away from me without a hug, did you?" Kale's father said.

"O-of course not. I was going to come back y-you know." Kale said.

"Really...you sure? You look a bit like your lying." Kale's father said. Regina tilted her head.

"Is that your...father? Or other mother? Or perhaps...a lover?" Regina asked, while Kale's father embraced Kale in a tight hug.

"H-he's not my lover. He's my dad." Kale squeaked out,

"It is flattering though." Kale's father said to her with a wink. Kale quickly squirmed his way out of his father's arms.

"So who is this cutie with the marvelous fashion sense?" Kale's Father asked.

"My name is Regina. Thanks very much for the compliment. I like your dress as well." Regina said, bowing formally.

"Excellent taste. You should swoop her up immediately darling." Kale's father said, nudging Kale. Kale turned red, and he began to tremble.

"U-uh. May I have your name Mr..." Regina said.

"Oh my name is Willow. Terribly sorry if I embarrassed the two of you, just can't help myself." Willow said, waving a hand dismissively.

"I-It's ok." Regina said, giving a polite smile, but she was fiddling with her own handbag.

"You two heading out together?" Willow asked.

"U-Uh...yeah actually." Kale said.

"Well, good luck out there. Don't be strangers. You have family here, so come back if you need help or additional supplies. Or just a familiar place to rest your head." Willow said.

"Of course." Kale said, looking down. He was still recovering.

"Goodbye. And good luck." Willow said. Kale nodded and Regina bowed one more time and off they went.


	3. Chapter 3

For a few minutes, everything had settled into an awkward silence. The duo were strangers after all, and had essentially joined forces on a whim.

"So...you have a Mudkip?" Kale asked.

"Yes his name is Percival. But I call him Percy for short." Regina said.

"Percival. That's an interesting name." Kale said. Druid let out a cry that sounded suspiciously similar to a snicker.

"It's fitting for a pokemon as brave as my dear Mudkip." Regina said.

"Hm. I'd definitely like to see him in action." Kale said, as they continued down route 1.

"You will soon enough I'm sure. I just want him to conserve his energy, so I let him rest in his pokeball." Regina said.

"Hey! Hold up!" Said a nazaly male voice.

"O-Oh? Is someone calling for us?" Regina asked Kale.

"I think so?" Kale said. Honestly though he wasn't sure. It seemed like they were the only people close enough to be the ones intended. Initially, they didn't know the source, but eventually a short boy, maybe 11 or twelve years old, marched out of the grass.

"You two are trainers right?" The kid said, scowling and trying his best to look badass.

"Yes. We are." Regina said.

"Why do you ask?" Kale said.

"Cause I wanna battle! And since your trainers, one of you has to battle me." The kid said.

"Ok then. I can battle you." Regina said.

"You sure? I can-" Kale said.

"It's fine. This is what I was resting Percival for." Regina said.

"Nice. Go Weedle, we can take this girl out in no time!" The kid said, tossing out his pokemon.

"Come on out Percival." Regina said, elegantly releasing her pokemon. She really did have a princess-y vibe, Kale thought.

The Mudkip turned to stare at Weedle with a determined look on his face.

"Weedle use string shot!" The boy yelled. Weedle determinedly did that, shooting string at Mudkip and weighing his body down. Not quite tying him down but slowing down Percival, even as he tried to shake it off.

"Percival, Use water gun!" Regina yelled. Percival stopped his shaking and took aim at the Weedle, spraying the bug with a jet of water, causing it to go flying back.

"Weedle! Are you ok?" The trainer asked. Weedle looked a bit stunned, but he shook himself off and got a determined look in his eyes.

"Weedle use poison sting!" The boy yelled. Percival tried to jump away but the Weedle was too accurate and managed to strike home.

"Percival. Are you ok?" Regina said. Percival winced in pain, but nodded.

"Ok Percival. Hit him with a tackle!" Regina said. Percival lunged at the Weedle but it's movements were hampered and it couldn't get up to full speed.

"Fool! You'll never win that way! Weedle, String shot!" The kid said. Weedle complied, wrapping Mudkip up so much he slowed to a halt, just in front of weedle.

"Excellent work Percy! Use a full force water gun!" Regina said. Percival nodded with a smile and spat a powerful stream of water at point blank range. Weedle couldn't dodge and was knocked into a nearby tree. Weedle fainted on impact.

"Darn. Weedle Return. That was pretty smart..." The kid said.

"Thank you. It was a pleasure to battle you as we-" Regina said.

"Hold it! I'm not done yet." The kid said.

"Y-You're not?" Regina said grimacing slightly. She had not anticipated him having more than one pokemon. Otherwise, she would have adopted a less risky strategy.

"Of course not. Cmon out Butterfree!" The kid yelled tossing a net ball, and unleashing a Butterfree. The Butterfree had a smug aura that Regina and Kale both picked up on instantly.

"Percival! Use water gun!" Regina yelled. Butterfree dodged with practiced ease.

"Ha! There's no way that you'll get Butterfree! He's way faster than your stupid Mud-whatever." The kid said.

"Mudkip." Regina and Kale said simultaneously.

"Whatever. Butterfree use gust!" The bug catcher yelled. The butterfree did as it was told, using it's wings to stir up a significant gust of wind that blew Percival off it's feet, causing it to topple backward.

"Percival!" Regina yelled in worry. Percival was quite obviously dazed, but after a few moments, he scrambled to his feet. The Mudkip still had a determined look on his face.

"Percival. Keep using Water gun!" Regina said. Percival nodded and then began spraying water at Butterfree, Butterfree kept dodging. It was just far too fast.

"Gust!" The bug catcher yelled, and the Mudkip was knocked off his feet by the gust. But he got back up.

"Gust!" The bug catcher yelled. And again Percival was buffeted by the strong winds.

"Gust! Gust! Gust!" And the mini tornados kept hitting Percival. But the brave Mudkip kept getting back up.

"P-Percival." Regina said, she was looking at the ground. Percival remained on the ground, breathing heavily and looking quite beaten

up.

The Butterfree flew down close to Percival. Relishing in it's victory.

"So, do you give up?" The bug catcher asked.

"...We don't give up. Not ever. Percival, now!" Regina said, lifting her head and gesturing with her hand. Percival, lifted his head and shot a powerful water gun right at Butterfree. It hit it full force at close range, sending it into a nearby brush of thorny bushes.

"B-Butterfree!" The bug catcher ran to his pokemon. The Butterfree was unconscious but otherwise alright.

"B-Butterfree. Return." The Bug Catcher said. Regina went to Percival and began treating it's wounds with potions.

"I-I guess you won. Here." The Bug Catcher said, handing her a portion of his money. He was obviously disappointed and sad.

"Thank you very much. It was a good battle." Regina said.

"Yeah...thanks. I thought I was doing so well training here. But I guess I wasn't." The bug catcher said.

"You did quite well. Percival and I would have lost had you and your Butterfree not gotten cocky." Regina said.

"Really?" The bug catcher said.

"Yes. I have no doubt that you'll be a great trainer one day." Regina said. Percival nodded.

"As for your Pokemon, there's a pokecenter in the town just near here. And you should give the Pokemon Professor there a visit. Say I sent you. Professor Yew will give you supplies, and who knows, you might just get a pokemon out of the deal. Especially if you say Kale sent you." Kale said.

"Th-thanks so much! I'll do that right away!" The bug catcher said, bowed to the two a couple of teams and went racing back to Plymouth.

"Your pretty good at battling. Had a lot of practice?" I asked.

"Well, a bit. I did come here from Lakeview after all. So I've been traveling for a bit. Had a few battles. And since I've only been traveling with just Percival, I've had to work on strategies to deal with Pokemon that he can't easily best." Regina said. Kale nodded and the two continued forward.

"Our objective should be getting to the Twins." Kale said.

"Uh huh. There is both a gym and a contest hall there, so it fits both our objectives. And it was fairly close." Regina said. Kale nodded.

"In the meantime though, do we have any secondary objectives?" Kale asked.

"Secondary objectives?" Regina asked.

"Things we want to do along the way. I want to gather berries, and train my Snivy and Druid a bit. Probably catch at least one more pokemon." Kale said.

"Ah! I see. Then I definitely should capture at least one pokemon. But could we perhaps, break first for lunch?" Regina asked. Kale nodded.

"Yeah. That'll give me time to give you an overview of the pokemon in the area." Kale said.


	4. Chapter 4

"...So, there's Pidgys, Starlys, Wurmples, Nidorans, and Purrloins. Anything else?" Regina asked, in between bites of her sandwich.

"I don't think so. Can't recall seeing any other pokemon on this route." Kale said, squinting a bit in thought.

"Though I could be wrong. In any case, I'm fairly certain those are all the more common pokemon on this route." Kale said.

"Ok, then." Regina said. Then Regina looked to be deep in thought.

"I believe then that I'd like to capture a Pidgy." Regina said.

"You would huh?" Kale asked.

"Yes, I am most familiar with Pidgy's and I do believe a Normal/Flying type would be best for my team." Regina said. Kale nodded. That did make sense.

"What about you? Which pokemon would you like to catch?" Regina said.

Kale thought about it. It was a good question. So far, he had Snivy, a Grass-type pokemon. As well as Ralts, a Psychic/Fairy type. Druid had Psychic, Fairy and Grass-type moves. While Snivy only really had a Grass and Normal-type moves. This wasn't bad, but it was a bit limited when it came to making it out on the road as a trainer, and the inevitable battles that would bring. As well as succeeding in the Gym challenge, if he wanted to do that.

More importantly, though, were contests. Kale had been raising Druid mostly with a focus on Beauty and Smart contests, though Druid could definitely pull off Cute in a pinch. He wasn't sure what Snivy would be best suited for. Maybe Cool or Smart? Though he could also see a Serperior pull off Beauty or even Tough. Kale definitely wanted a team that could dominate any type of contest. There were specialists of course among coordinators, but even they usually had to pull off multiple wins in each category to gain a following.

So too should he.

It might be good if he analyzed Snivy's abilities for a bit.

"Kale..did you hear me? Are you alright?" Regina asked, and Kale realized he had been quiet for a bit longer then he should have been.

"Ha, sorry. That question got me to thinking. I think I would like to test out Snivy's abilities before I make my choice." Kale said.

"I see. That's quite intelligent." Regina said. The duo finished their meal and split off just slightly. Kale taking one side of the grass surrounding the road and Regina the opposite.

"Hey, Snivy come on out." Kale said, tossing the luxury ball gently on the grass. Snivy popped out. Druid didn't seem particularly happy to see him.

"Ok then, you should know Tackle, Glare and Magical Leaf, right?" Kale said. He was pretty sure that's how Yew typically bred her Snivy's. Snivy nodded a bit.

"I see. Well then. The obvious mon to train you on would be Purrloin then. Though those are more commonly found at night. We could still go searching for one, though. And I think you could beat Wurmple, as the standard Wurmple's shouldn't be a threat to you." Kale said. Snivy looked at Kale a bit confused. Then he nodded.

They walked through the grass for a bit. Soon enough we stumbled upon a Wurmple, chewing on a berry. The mon turned and looked to Snivy, sensing a mon to challenge it glared at Snivy, and Snivy glared back, though Kale could tell he seemed nervous.

"Snivy, use tackle!" Kale said. Snivy looked back at him with a doubting expression. This gave Wurmple enough time to send a poison sting towards Snivy. Snivy cried in pain as the super effective hit landed.

"Snivy. Are you ok? You have to trust me alright?" Kale asked as he checked on Snivy. From the looks of it, he wasn't poisoned, but he was hurting a bit.

"Do you want to return?" Kale asked. Snivy shook his head and stood up, then faced towards the Wurmple.

"Alright, let's try that again. Snivy, tackle that Wurmple!" Kale said. Snivy nodded and quickly ran right for the Wurmple. Tackling it to the ground. The wurmple fainted right away at that point.

"You did awesome, Snivy!" Kale said. Snivy looked at the ground, seemingly not sure how to take the praise.

Kale bent down and began patting Snivy on the head. Snivy smiled and issued a soft, pleased cry. Druid instead issued a low growl.

"Knock it off Druid." Kale said. Druid crossed his arms and looked stubbornly to the side.

"If your that jealous, I'm going to have to put you in your Pokeball again. Do you want that?" Kale asked. Druid actually nodded to that.

"Ok then. Druid, return." Kale said, and beamed him back into his Pokeball. Snivy was looking to the ground, seemingly, not knowing how to take this conflict.

"It's ok Snivy. Here, I have a treat for you." Kale said and looked around in his pack to find a small cookie intended for use as an occasional treat for pokemon. Kale bent down and offered it to Snivy who began to take a timid bite. Once he got the taste for it he began eating it a lot faster.

"Ha ha, there you go. Good huh?" Kale said. Snivy nodded, and gave a little smirk. Kale then administered a potion to the Snivy's small wound.

"Ok then, we should find more pokemon for you to challenge huh?" Kale said. Snivy nodded.

Regina meanwhile had been searching for a Pidgy, and hadn't been having much look. Mostly she had been running into Wurmples and Nidorans. Percival was starting to look a bit bored just walking around as Regina wasn't letting him get into battles with any of the wild Pokemon they encountered.

"It's ok, Percy. As soon as we find a Pidgy, you'll be able to get into any battles you want." Regina said. Percival nodded a bit excitedly. He wanted very much to test his skills against new pokemon. Percival had always been very interested in battleing, and that was part of why Regina wanted to take on the gym challenge, in spite of her being unable to decide what kind of trainer she would be.

Finally, she found a Pidgy nibbling on some seeds on the ground. Regina slowly withdrew her pokeball from her pack, and tossed it at the Pidgy. It successfully managed to engulf him. All that was needed was to see if the pokemon would accept being captured by a trainer.

1, 2...

Kale's training session with Snivy had continued to go well. Snivy was easily able to beat several more Wurmples. Kale had noticed that Snivy was very, very quick and seemed so even more than the average Snivy.

However, these battles against the Wurmples were not giving Snivy the training he needed. They were quite weak and often went down in one hit, without even getting the chance to attack. While this did show off Snivy's speed, he couldn't determine how hard he hit and how potent he was with special attacks, such as his Magical Leaf. Snivy needed that kind of opponent.

Finally, in the tall grass, Kale was able to find it. A Purrloin who instantly hissed at Snivy and went into a combat stance. Snivy did the same.

It was time for a true battle to begin.


	5. Chapter 5

"Snivy...magical leaf." Kale said. Snivy closed his eyes and concentrated, gathering the energy to lift up several leaves. Snivy then sent them flying towards the Purrloin. The Purrloin made to dodge but the leaves continued to chase after the mon, eventually hitting the Purrloin and causing it to fall over.

However, the Purrloin was soon back on it's feet. This seemed to infuriate it and it pounced towards Snivy with full force knocking him down and beginning to rake the grass snake with it's claws.

Snivy struggled but it took a great deal of time before he was finally able to pry the cat off of him.

"Snivy, use Magical leaf!" Kale said. Snivy nodded and began gathering the energy again. Purrloin, knowing what to expect, began to run away, over it couldn't escape from the magical leaves and it was again knocked to it's feet. Snivy seemed to be quite good at special attacks, Kale realized.

Purrloin looked down for the count, as it didn't get up after several moments. Kale got out a notepad and began taking notes on what he observed from Snivy from the battle. His special attack also seemed higher than average for a Snivy, perhaps even more so than his speed. His attack was probably low as he had a great deal of difficulty outpowering that Purrloin. More and more it was looking like Snivy would be a good Beauty contestant.

Kale was about to head closer to the road to check on Regina when suddenly he heard a distressed cry from his Snivy. The battle had not ended. Purrloin was again scratching Snivy, outpowering him.

...and the Pidgy broke out. So strong that Regina suspected he had broken the capture mechanism of the ball, rendering the thing useless.

"Ok then. Myself and Percival will have to prove ourselves in battle I see. Percival, use water gun!" Regina said, Percival nodded and sent a spray of water for the Pidgy, but it managed to nimbly dodge.

"Percy! Try it again." Regina said. Still, nothing, as the Pidgy again dodged. And again. And again. Finally, the Pidgy began to hop away.

Regina and Percy began to chase after the bird pokemon.

Snivy, took a scratch, and then another, and then another, til Snivy collapsed to the ground.

"Snivy! Are you ok?" Kale asked. After a few tense moments, Snivy got up and nodded.

"Then use Magical leaf, and don't hold back!" Kale said. Snivy nodded, and gathered up all it's energy to gather as many leaves at it could and sent them all racing towards Purrloin. Finally, Purrloin fainted.

A smug, triumphant smile came to Snivy's face as he revealed in his victory. Kale took out a potion and began treating the Snivy's wounds.

"I think I have a name for you now, Snivy. Want to hear it?" Kale said. The Snivy looked momentarily confused, then nodded.

"Smugleaf. How do you like that?" Kale asked. Snivy nodded his head vigorously.

"Smugleaf it is then." Kale said.

As the two ran after the hopping Pidgy, Percy began to notice a pattern to it's dodges, and decided to adjust his strategy. Instead of hitting it where it was, he began firing at where it was going. Pidgy proceded to get hit by several blasts as the Pidgy was unable to change it's stratagy so quickly. Finally, the bird began to fly. However, as it was clearly injured by Percival's water guns it wasn't flying very steady, and couldn't quickly change course. Allowing Percy to shoot the bird out of the sky with a jet of water.

"Good work Percy! Here it goes!" Regina said and she threw another pokeball.

1, 2, and finally 3. The ball caught the Pidgy with a satisfying click.

As Kale took a rest with Smugleaf, the grass snake beckoned his attention with several small cries. Kale looked over and Snivy pointed at a small rock laying on the middle of the ground. Kale was confused, what was Smugleaf trying to say? Then he looked back over at Smugleaf who seemed to be concentrating. Suddenly two vines materialized out of Snivy's back and he manipulated them to attack the small rock, managing to break it in half.

"Nice. You've learned Vine Whip! You've come a long way already Smugleaf." Kale said, Smugleaf headed over and put out his head, which Kale patted as a reward for the good work he had done.

Kale was starting to get a pretty good idea which Pokemon he wanted to catch here.

Kale and Regina met back up a short time later.

"I caught a Pidgy!" Regina said.

"Congrats. I myself managed to train Snivy up a bit, and gave him a nickname. He's Smugleaf now." Kale said. Gesturing to the companion that walked beside him.

"Smugleaf huh? That's quite a lovely name. Glad to meet you Smugleaf." Regina said and gave Smugleaf a wave, Smugleaf looked down to the ground. He actually seemed quite shy. Perhaps that was the reason he was so hostile to Yew, Kale thought.

"If he's the timid sort...I wonder if he will actually be interested in contests." Regina said.

"Huh?" Kale asked.

"Well it's just that...if he's shy around most humans, having the spotlight on him may not be his cup of tea." Regina said. Kale considered that. He hadn't thought about it, but that did make a certain measure of sense.

"We shall see. It's hard to determine that now, but if he isn't interested in contests then he won't have to participate in them." Kale said. But he really hoped he would. Kale had been dreaming about this for a long time, and he would very much like this Snivy he had formed a connection with to enjoy contests like he did.

Either way, though it would be fine. Druid and himself had had this dream for a long time. Druid loved watching contests with him on TV. And he was certain to catch more pokemon who took to Contests as well, if he kept at it.

"So...what are you naming your Pidgy?" Kale asked, stirring himself from his thoughts.

"Huh. I'm not sure exactly. But I'm sure it will come to me sooner or later." Regina said. Kale nodded.

"Well, we should probably get a move on. We should make a little more progress before nightfall. There's still plenty of route left and we can finish our objectives tomorrow, sound good?" Kale said. Regina nodded.

The two began heading down the main road. Smugleaf and Percival behind them.


	6. Chapter 6

Smugleaf and Percival seemed to be getting along fairly well. Percival's friendly and outgoing nature balancing well with the more reserved Smugleaf. Their trainers were also getting along quite well.

"So what kind of berry is this?" Regina asked.

"That's an Oran berry. It can help restore a bit of a Pokemon's health. Sitrus berries are even more effective in this sense, but they are a lot harder to find and raise then Orans. Orans though are also quite useful in making" Kale said.

"I see. So they are quite useful. Well then, what about these?" Regina asked, pointing to another cluster of berries in a nearby bush. The two had separated a bit from their pokemon to check out the bushes that lined the right side of the route.

"Those are Wiki berries. They can heal a pokemon, but they also can cause confusion in addition to that." Kale said.

"Oh, so it's a bit of a gamble?" Regina said.

"Yes. These berries are also useful in blue pokeblocks, which are useful in raising Pokemon to be more beautiful. Which can help one succeed in beauty contests." Kale explained.

"I see. So berries can be useful in a wide variety of areas." Regina said.

"Yes, as well as being healthy and nutritious food for pokemon." Kale said.

"Ok! So we should probably harvest them right?" Regina said.

"Yeah. Just be careful not to harvest too many. You want the bushes to be able to replenish themselves." Kale said. Regina nodded and the two harvested a good amount of berries.

"You seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff. Being a trainer." Regina said.

"Yeah, I guess." Kale said. Honestly, some of this stuff seemed like fairly basic knowledge, but then again he'd been particularly obsessed with being a trainer since a young age. Not everyone was like that.

"My parents they uh...they didn't really want me to go on a pokemon journey. They kept me from...a lot of stuff when I was younger. Wouldn't let me watch certain programs. See Pokemon battles, stuff like that." Regina said.

"I...I see." Kale said.

"But I'd always been sort of interested in it. When I got older I would switch to the channels they didn't let me watch when they were gone. I'd even sneak out and watch pokemon battles at the stadium or the gym, a couple of times. It always amazed me. Everything I saw. The battles, the contests, the looking for and catching of pokemon. It all seemed so amazing." Regina said, she had a wistful look in her eyes.

"How did you finally convince them to let you become a trainer?" Kale asked.

"Well, I found Percy one day, standing out in the rain. He looked so lonely, so I brought him in and fed him. I offered him an empty pokeball we had lying around and he hopped right in. He was so loyal and kind to me. My parents when they found out were happy to let me keep him as a pet but...I knew Percy was getting bored and unhappy. He was like me. He wanted adventure. To explore and see the world. I think in the end my parent's finally realized how unhappy I had become. How unhappy we both had been." Regina said.

"But you're happy now?" Kale asked. And Regina's typical grin once again found her face.

"Yes. I am very happy. We both are." Regina said.

"I'm glad." Kale said, and found himself smiling too.

The journey continued til evening. They then found a spot just off the road that wasn't filled with the tall grass that Pokemon tended to spend much of their time in. They laid out sleeping bags and got out their dinner. They also let out Druid and Pidgy and fed their pokemon as well.

"That's a very cute sleeping bag." Regina said, gesturing to the green and pink bag with the Bulbasaur line on it. Dinner was over and the two had returned their pokemon to their pokeballs.

"Th-thanks. I like your's too." Kale said, it was a bright blue number, with woopers on it.

"I appreciate that. I had been trying to grab something with Mudkips on it though." Regina said, she pouted a bit.

"Still it was nice I was able to get even this. The stores tend to be cleared out of supplies at this time. I think most of the trainers in the city departed for their journeys a bit before I left." Regina said.

"Yeah, this is around the time most people start their journeys." Kale said.

"Well, I suppose we should go to bed." Regina said

"Probably a good idea-" Kale said. Then he looked up and Regina had taken off her top. Kale went red and his hormonal mind went into overdrive even as he noticed how cute her pink bra was. Then she slipped off her skirt, which was a truly enchanting sight.

"W-what are you do-doing." Kale felt himself say.

"I'm getting changed. I don't want to wear this to sleep silly." Regina said.

"Y-yeah but...your doing it in front of me." Kale said.

"Is that a problem? We're both friends here?" Regina said. She bent over to reach into her pack, and Kale had to cover his eyes. Hormones or no hormones it just felt wrong to leer at her so long, especially after she said something like that.

"Well yeah...but your a girl and I'm a boy." Kale said.

"I know." Regina said.

"D-Don't you see what's wrong with that?" Kale asked. Regina tilted her head in a manner that Kale would have found extremely cute had he not been covering his lives.

"Well, I don't really know. I've never had a guy friend before." Regina said.

"Guys can be pretty big perverts...ya know like my mom is." Kale said.

"I understand that. Your mother is super friendly though, and so are you." Regina said.

"Yeah but...it's just better that you don't change in front of us. Even friends." Kale said. Regina paused and seemed to absorb that.

"I see. I must be honest as I wasn't entirely certain whether or not you liked girls. But I think...I understand. If you changed in front of me like that it would be startling. Not in a bad way but in an uncomfortable way. Please forgive me." Regina said.

"I-It's nothing I should have to forgive you for exactly..." Kale said.

"I didn't consider your feelings, so I very much should." Regina said.

"I disagree...if anything I should apologize for looking." Kale said, his apology was shy, filled with embarrassment and shame.

"Th-that's alright. If it was the other way around...I would have looked too." Regina said. And an awkward silence settled around them.

"Y-you can uncover your eyes by the way. I am dressed and in my sleeping bag." Regina said. Kale opened his eyes and saw her just

"Th-thanks. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad." Kale said.

"You didn't. Believe me. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad." Regina said.

"You didn't." Kale said.

Before long the two of them fell asleep, resolving to themselves to forget it ever happened.

It wouldn't take.


	7. Chapter 7

Kale woke up and it took him a couple of minutes to remember what happened the night before. He felt a blend of arousal and shame flooded him. He really hoped that their relationship wouldn't get awkward. For a while, he just sat in his sleeping bed, pretty much just feigning sleep. Eventually, though, he got hungry, and checking his dex, it was close enough to wake up time anyway, so he decided to just get some breakfast. Kale opened up his rations and got to work chowing down.

"That looks good." A sleepy voice said. It was kinda interesting hearing her "morning voice."

"It's just a breakfast bar, but it is kinda tasty I guess." Kale said.

"Ah. I think I have some of those in my rations, might as well give it a try." Regina said. Her voice was bright and cheery and she wasn't being awkward at all. So Kale was a bit relieved.

They finished breakfast in an only slightly awkward silence and then Regina got changed into her traveling clothes behind a small grove of trees.

"So today you want to go catch a pokemon right?" Regina said.

"Yeah. I've got a certain pokemon or two in mind. What about you Regina? Going to train?" Regina said.

"Ah huh. Percival could use a bit of training and I think Pidgy's kinda weak right now. I think that both of them will be great battling pokemon soon though." Regina said.

"Sounds good. I suppose it's time to split up then." Kale said. Regina smiled and nodded. Kale then walked away. She noticed how Kale often swung his hips like a girl when he walked. And she also couldn't help but notice that he had a pretty cute butt. It seemed pretty feminine actually.

Regina shook her head. She shouldn't be ogling a friend. She should just focus on what's important. Training.

Still, it took her a while to get the blush off of her face and those swaying hips off her mind.

Kale spent a little while looking for the pokemon he wanted. He spent a little time training Smugleaf and Druid during this time, though he was careful to keep them separated for the moment. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary conflict while he was searching for a pokemon.

It wasn't too long before he stumbled on the mon he wanted. There, among several others of it's own kind, pecking at seeds, was a Starly. As soon as he looked at it, the Starly in question looked back, and their eyes met. Kale withdrew his Pokeball and sent out Druid.

"Druid, use confusion." Kale said, and pointed at one of the other Starly's. Still keeping his eyes locked on his Starly.

Druid used confusion and instantly caused one of the Starly's to faint. The other Starly figured out the situation pretty quickly and gathered around the one Kale had marked out for capture.

"Druid. Confusion." Kale said again and another Starly was knocked out. The Starly decided to change tack and several of them flew immediately over to Druid, clearly attempting to attack him.

They began to peck at the Ralts, violently and quickly attempting to knock out the frail pokemon.

"Confusion." Another Starly down. Druid's body was covered by the small swarm.

"Confusion." Another. Every inch of Starly was being attacked.

"Confusion." And another. neither Kale nor Druid would relent. Kale wouldn't look at Druid. He knew either his or Druid's will would collapse if he saw the state of his pokemon.

"Confusion." One more left. Druid could barely stand.

"Confusion." And the last Starly fell from the sky. Druid was battered and beaten. But he wouldn't relent. Druid and Kale's will were one. Kale got on his knees and fetched a potion from his bag, applying the potion, still without looking away from the Starly.

"If you want, we can have a battle. But I think I've proven my strength and will as a trainer. There's no reason to fight further. Agreed?" Kale asked.

The Starly looked at his fainted comrades, then down at the ground with a low cry that seemed almost like a sigh. The Starly looked back into Kale's eyes and nodded.

Kale through his pokeball. 1. 2. 3. Caught.

In a moment Starly was back out.

"Show me what you can do." Kale said. And both him and a now mostly recovered Druid, watched him perform his moves. Tackle, Peck, Quick Attack, Wing Attack. All of which he performed easily, yet gracefully, with a sense of style. He had a real Cool factor.

"Perfect. Welcome to the team Ace." Kale said, and gave him a treat and a pat on the head. He did the same with Druid.

His team was coming together.

Regina meanwhile, was training her Pidgy. And she was having a very tough time. Pidgy was pretty weak for one, and he had a hard time taking on anyone except Wurmples. Though at least Pidgy was getting slowly stronger, so that was becoming a bit less of a problem as the day went on.

However, there was another problem. One that might not easily be remedied.

Pidgy liked to peck and pull at her clothing. Quite a lot actually.

"S-stop it! P-Please Pidgy." Regina said flustered as she staved off another attempt to attack the shoulder strap of her top and thereby rip it off. Percival looked on in bemusement, at the spectacle.

Finally, Regina managed to pry him off yet again.

"Pidgy please stop doing that alright? You could take my clothes off! Or worse, ruin them!" Regina said. Pidgy looked up at Regina and gave an innocent cry, as if he had no idea what he had done wrong.

"Your very naughty Mr. Pidgy. Hm. What will I do with you?" Regina said. She wasn't really sure how to deal with a pokemon that acted out of control. Percival was such a good-natured, even-tempered pokemon.

"Having trouble?" Said a cool female voice.

Regina looked up. She saw a woman, older, maybe mid-thirties with auburn hair, but very beautiful. She was wearing a lab coat with a draped skirt and a frilly top. Regina was instantly impressed. She had the aura of someone she could look up to.

"Y-yes. Very much so. I-I could use some help." Regina said. The woman looked from Regina to her Pidgy and back to Regina. Then she flashed her a smile.

"I think I can help." She said with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Kale was having slightly better luck with training his bird mon. Ace was pretty confident in battle, and he was able to take on a fairly wide variety of the pokemon present with no real issues. By the end of his session, he was fairly confident that all three of his pokemon were fairly even in terms of battle skill.

At that point, he wanted to head over to find Regina. He hadn't heard from her for a while, or even caught sight of her. A part of him was actually a bit concerned. The other day he had caught sight of her several times during training. So Kale began his search.

It didn't last too long. Regina was on the other side of the route as he had anticipated. However, she was not quite in the state he had thought she would be.

She was sitting on the ground, petting her pidgy happily and talking with a woman. She was older, probably in her thirties, and she looked incredibly pretty, and Kale really liked her outfit.

"Hey, there stranger. If you're looking for a battle, you'll have to wait a bit. The three of us are enjoying a little break." The woman said.

"Oh, Kale! Come and join us. This lady has been helping me train pidgy!" Regina said.

"He has been quite a handful. But I think we are making good progress." The woman said.

"Huh. That's very nice. What's your name?" Kale asked.

"Rose. I'm a pretty experienced trainer. Been doing this since I was 11." The woman said.

Rose...Rose. The name sounded familiar, and not just because of the flower, but Kale couldn't exactly place it.

"Yeah, thanks to her, Pidgy seems a lot better behaved and a bit stronger too!" Regina said.

"So you can deal with Pokemon with attitude problems huh?" Kale said. Grateful that his pokemon were all in their pokeballs.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Why?" Rose asked.

"My Ralts doesn't seem to like my Snivy very much." Kale said. A look of recognition flashed across Rose's eyes but quickly disappeared.

"You have a Ralts and a Snivy huh? Those are pretty rare pokemon." Rose said.

"I guess that's the benefit of having pokemon breeders as parents. That and the fact my Mom is a professor." Kale said.

"Well then. I guess if you take out your Ralts I can try and remedy the problem. Or at least begin to so you can continue the training yourself." Rose said.

Kale got out his pokeball and tossed it to the ground. Druid came out looking slightly drowsy.

"Hm. The little guy looks in good condition. Beautiful. He's been well cared for." Rose said.

"Thanks. I've been looking after him all my life, with some help from my parents." Kale said.

"Of course. You two must be really close." Rose said.

"Of course." Kale said.

"And you acquired the Snivy recently?" Rose said.

"Yes. Very. Just the other day." Kale said.

"Well, that explains it. The poor things jealous." Rose said.

He knew that of course. Regina did too. It was painfully obvious really.

"How do I get him to realize that Snivy isn't a threat to him." Kale said.

"Time. Patience. Care. Communication. And lots of teamwork." Rose said, then she stood up.

"I should probably go. Get back to what I'm supposed to be doing here." Rose said.

"You're the one who offered me." Kale said.

"I understand that. I gave you some advice. That's all you need. You're a smart kid and you have a great connection with your pokemon. Just do what comes naturally. You'll be fine." Rose said and she turned and began to walk off.

Both Kale and Regina's eyes followed her. Kale was pretty sure he hated her. Regina was pretty sure she loved her.

They both thought she had a great butt.

"You ok Regina?" Kale asked.

"Yeah. What's wrong?" Regina said.

"That woman...I can't trust her." Kale said.

"W-Why not? She seemed so nice." Regina said.

"Even people who seem nice can be bad people Regina." Kale said.

"I understand that. I am not a child." Regina said.

"Then why don't you stop acting like one?" He snapped. Regina's face fell.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just...I'm worried. About you and about...myself. I've never been away from home before. At least...not like this." Kale said.

"I see." Regina said. It made sense. He did seem like a sorta shy, nervous individual.

"I will try and keep that in mind. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. It seems I have a habit of doing that." Regina said.

"It's just because we don't know each other well. We'll get better at this." Kale said.

"Ok." Regina said with a nod. She still looked troubled.

"We should get going. We still have a good deal of route left." Kale said. Regina nodded and the duo got back on the road and continued their journey.

They were close to the end of the route, the edge of the wood in sight when a couple of trainers emerged from the tall grass.

"Yo, want to battle?" A bubbly lass said to Kale. She looked around his age but possibly a bit younger, maybe 14 or 15. Long brown hair, wearing a skirt and blouse.

"Sure." Kale said.

"I wanna battle with you." Said a youngster. He looked to be about 12 or 13. Wearing a hat, shorts and a t-shirt.

"Ok." Regina said.

The four trainers squared off. This would be their last challenge of Route 1, even then, they were sure of that much.


	9. Chapter 9

"Go Rattata!" The youngster called out.

"Go Pidgy." Regina called.

"Go Ace." Kale called and sent out his Starly.

"Ha. You two seem big on flying types. Go Nidoran." The Lass said, sending out a female nidoran.

That was an interesting choice. The lass seemed to have a couple of pokeballs visible on her bag, probably containing pokemon. She had seen his Ralts and his Snivy, both were already out and trying clinging to opposite sides of him. She chose her poison type to tackle his flying type, probably well aware that Ralts was a psychic type and could likely take her nidoran out with a single confusion. Smugleaf could likely fall from a strong poison type attack. So she was probably confident enough that she could use Nidoran to beat Ace and then use another mon to take out Druid, at that point Smugleaf could be taken out comfortably.

Kale would have to approach this battle carefully. He strongly felt that this lass was approaching this battle with a high degree of strategy. And it would be embarrassing to lose to someone who looked about a year or two his junior. It wouldn't do to underestimate her.

"Tackle whenever you get a chance." Kale said.

"Scratch whenever his starly get's close." The lass said.

That was certainly an interesting strategy. Ace was most likely faster then her Nidoran by a fair bit. So Ace was going to get far more hits in over time then her Nidoran was likely too. And indeed that was seeming to be the case. For every three hits Ace was getting in, Nidoran was only getting one, at least by Kale's approximations.

However Kale was noticing a flaw in this strategy. Because Ace was focusing on hitting fast and getting away, he was not hitting the Nidoran as hard as he could, the nidoran, however, was hitting as hard as she could and thus Ace was ending up on the back foot.

Kale needed to adjust strategies.

"Ace, switch to Quick attack." Kale said. He had been trying to get Ace to conserve his energy for a potential tougher pokemon, however, it seemed clear that his opponent was using a bit of a risky gambit in an attempt to pitch a shut out. The quick attacks would make it impossible for the Nidoran to counter.

Ace got about two quick attacks in before the Lass withdrew her Nidoran.

"Ha. That was pretty smart." The Lass said.

"You must have known that I could use that strategy to counter yours." Kale said.

"Yeah, but I was hoping you wouldn't notice what I was doing. Lots of people underestimate me." The lass said.

Kale smiled, this was going to be interesting.

Pidgy meanwhile had it's talons full with Rattata. Pidgy lacked discipline and was slow in it's movements. This allowed the rattata to get more hits in then Regina would have liked. Pidgy also wasn't hitting very hard. Pidgy still needed a good deal of training.

"Pidgy, use gust." Regina said. Pidgy stirred up a gust with his wings and sent a mini-tornado right into Rattata, knock it back. Pidgy, feeling succsful and safe landed and began grooming himself, fairly close by rattata.

"Rattata! Bite." The youngster said. And Rattata launched up and bit Pidgy right on the neck. Pidgy fainted shortly thereafter.

Once again Regina was on the backfoot.

The lass sent out her Minun. Kale breathed out a little. Yes, it wasn't the best situation for him, but he was fairly certain that Ace could handle a Minun, or at least do a good deal of damage to it. Kale wasn't super familiar with Minun, but he was aware that it was considered a pretty weak electric type pokemon.

"Ace, quick attack." Kale said. Ace launched right away into a quick attack, but a small smile flashed on the lasses face.

"Mini, use nuzzle." The lass said. The Minun's cheek pouches lit up and electricity spread through Ace's body. Ace fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Ace, return." Kale said. The lass smirked.

"You were underestimating me and my Mini weren't you?" The lass said.

"You did well. That was a smart move. Though I also made a drastic miscalculation by keeping Ace out. Smugleaf, it's time to finish this." Kale said and sent out Smugleaf.

"Smugleaf, use magical leaf." Kale commanded. Smugleaf nodded and sent a leaf racing towards the Minun. It hit the Minun hard and sent it flying back a bit.

"Mini. Quick attack." The lass said.

The battle reached it's second phase.

Mini was able to work it's way around Smugleaf's onslaught of magical leaves, hitting him with tackles, and electric filled nuzzles. Though this was at great cost to Mini's health, being periodically hit with the harder-hitting magical leaf attack.

"Mini! Use growl!" The lass cried. Mini used it's energy to growl at Smugleaf, it was fairly weak sounding but it did have an effect. Kale smiled inwardly. The lass didn't know what she had done.

"Magical leaf." Kale said and finished the Minun off. The lass withdrew her minun.

"Nidoran, you can come back out now." The lass said, sending her Nidoran out. Smugleaf was staggering a bit. Mini had done more damage then Kale had anticipated.

But it wouldn't matter.

"Nidoran use poison sting." The lass said.

"Smugleaf, magical leaf." Kale replied.

The two both hit their attacks and their attacks both caused a fair amount of damage. Even considering that poison sting was a weak attack and magical leaf was not very effective on Nidoran.

The lass wanted to avoid being knocked backwards by a flurry of magical leafs.

"Keep going forward Nidoran. Dodge all his attacks and go for a scratch!" The lass said. The nidoran nodded and ran towards Smugleaf.

Kale grinned.

"Smugleaf, use vine whip." Kale said.

"Good, the attack is weak. Nidoran go all out." The lass said.

The Nidoran jumped towards Smugleaf, stretching out it's claws. It was battered aside with a vine whip and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"H-How?" The lass asked as she returned her Nidoran to her pokeball.

"I guess my Smugleaf is more powerful then you thought." Kale said.

The lass looked thoroughly confused.

"This isn't over yet." The lass said. The determination in her eyes hadn't died.


	10. Chapter 10

"Alice, it's time." The lass said and sent out a female Bulbasaur.

"You have an impressive line up don't you?" Kale said.

"My parents wouldn't let me out without a number of good friends to protect me. And a whole lotta pokeballs." The Lass said.

"I like that. You'll have to tell me where you got a Bulbasaur. I've always liked Bulbasaur." Kale said.

"Sure. If you can beat me." The Lass said.

Kale accepted the challenge with a smile.

Regina sent Percival to face the challenge.

"Percival. Water gun." Regina said and the cocky Rattata got blasted hard off his feet. The Youngster was forced to withdraw his Rattata.

"Percival is strong. So you can't underestimate me or him." Regina said.

"Pft. Whatever. Go Nidoran." The youngster said, sending out his male Nidoran.

"Use poison sting." The youngster said.

"Water gun!" Regina yelled. The water gun was able to blast the poison quill out of the air. The Nidoran sent out another poison sting. Then another. But Percival was able to keep shooting them down with his water guns.

Regina knew this couldn't last forever. She was going to have to take her opportunity soon.

Smugleaf and Alice were going back and forth with vine whips. Smugleaf was quite weakened at this stage so he was focused mostly on defense. Only getting blows in on Alice when it was perfectly safe. Smugleaf would occasionally strike with a Magical Leaf attack but most of the time he wasn't in much of a position to. As such Alice wasn't taking very much damage and was gradually wearing down Smugleaf.

Eventually, Smugleaf stumbled.

"Now's your chance." The lass said snapping her fingers as she saw the opening. Alice complied and hit Smugleaf with a vine whip. Then tackled Smugleaf. Kale could only withdraw Smugleaf at this point.

"You did well. I'm proud of you." Kale said.

"Your Snivy is really a tough little guy. I'd like to see how well it would match up to Alice at full strength, one on one." The lass said.

"That would be an interesting fight. However, I'm more focused on the battle as it stands now. Druid, it's time." Kale said. Druid waddled over to face Alice.

The youngsters Nidoran eventually began to score some hits with his poison sting attack. Percival was most vulnerable as one stream of his water gun died and the Nidoran was able to exploit this, riddling the mudkip with several of his quills. It was soon clear to Regina that Percival was poisoned and weakened.

"Percival focus your water gun on the Nidoran himself." Regina said. She no longer could afford to engage in a defensive strategy. Percival was going to have to take command.

Nidoran dodged the first water gun. However, he wasn't so lucky with the second, which managed to hit him glancingly. Nidoran responded quickly with another poison sting which again hit Percival.

Percival lit out a cry but he wasn't done yet. He sent another jet of a water gun at the Nidoran which hit it nearly straight on and managed to blast the Nidoran away a bit. At this point, both Percival and the Nidoran were quite weak.

Percival give his all in one last water gun as the Nidoran shot a poison quill. The Nidoran was hit and fainted. Percival stumbled and fell from the last sting a moment later.

The two trainers withdrew their pokemon.

The youngster scowled.

"You're pretty good for a girl I guess. But you still barely won." The youngster said.

"That was pretty fun. You are quite talented for one so young." Regina said, charitably ignoring the sexism.

"Well duh. I'm going to be a gym leader one day." The youngster said.

"I will look forward to it. That way I can tell everyone I know how I was just barely able to beat you before you even got to be a gym leader. What's your name?" Regina asked.

"Danny." The youngster said.

"My name is Regina. It's very nice to meet you." Regina said. The boy shifted uncomfortably in embarrassment.

"C-can I have your phone number? Just in case I feel like battling you again." Danny said. Regina gave a radiant smile.

"Sure!" Regina said.

Alice and Druid's fight began with an onslaught by Alice. The lass fixated on attacking Druid with Vine whip, suspecting it wouldn't take too many blows to knock out the Ralts. Druid however was fairly fast and managed to dodge each attempt.

"Confusion." Kale declared, and the Bulbasaur went down as the psychic blast connected.

"Alice, Vine whip." The lass declared thinking the Druid's sudden stop in motion might be an opportunity.

Druid deftly dodged it.

"Confusion." Kale declared again and Alice fainted.

"Your Bulbasaur held up well, all things considered." Kale said.

"Well...I think we should end here. I have one more pokemon, but I don't want either one of us to be defenseless." The lass said.

"Probably smart. That was a good battle regardless, and I'd like to see it through in different circumstances." Kale said.

"Sounds great. What's your name?" The lass said.

"Kale. What's yours?" Kale asked.

"Veronica." The lass said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Veronica." Kale said. Veronica fumbled around in her bag and got out a folded piece of paper.

"Here's my number. You can call me if you want to battle or need help or whatever. I've gotta take care of my nephew Danny. So we're going to have to make it to this next town soon and find a place to stay." Veronica said.

"Well, I'm from the nearest town, and we are going to need to heal our pokemon. We can take you back." Kale said.

"Sure. Why not." Veronica said.

"Regina, we're going to show these nice people some Elmvalian hospitality." Kale said.

"Hm. I'm not from Elmvale Kale." Regina said.

"I know it was just a...we are bringing them back to Elmvale so we can heal and they can have a place to crash." Kale said.

"O-oh ok! Sounds good. Because my team got a bit wrecked." Regina said.

"Yeah. Well I never thought I'd be the heavy of a party but...it looks like that's where we are at. Follow me everyone." Kale said.

The four proceeded to head back to Elmvale, Kale hoping that his parents wouldn't prove embarrassing to him, as far fetched as those hopes were.

"That's a pretty cute bag." Veronica said.

"Thanks." Kale said.

"Not really a typical bag for a guy huh." Veronica said.

"No, not exactly. But I'm not exactly a typical guy I guess." Kale said.

"That's cool." Veronica said. When not engaged in battle she seemed pretty chill in general.

It was oddly depressing to Kale to come back into view of Elmvale. That already he was going to have to go back into town for help. He had always imagined that once he was out on his journey, that was it. He'd be on the road until the journey was concluded or he had some desire or his parents some need for him to come back. He thought he'd be able to make it with the help of just his pokemon.

Clearly though that was not yet possible for him. And that made him a bit worried for his future and the future of his journey.

They headed to the pokemon center. It was located on the edge of town, in order to make it more accessible for travelers. When they arrived the nurse was sitting behind the counter, looking at her PC. She was a redhead with a fashionable amount of make-up and painted nails. Kale had known her since she had taken over the facility from the last Joy, who had been a significantly older woman when she moved and transitioned to part-time medical work. She was in her late twenties, very clever, and said to be at least competent at all aspects of Pokemon training.

"Hello and welcome to the pokemon center. I'm your Nurse Joy, how can I help?" The Nurse said.

"Hey there Stephenie. Our pokemon need some patching up." Kale said.

"Told you to call me Nurse or Joy when I'm on shift K." The Nurse said.

"Ah. Sorry." Kale said.

"Who are your new friends here?" The Nurse asked.

"Ah. This is my traveling companion Regina. She is not sure about her long term goals as a trainer, but she is eager to explore her options." Kale said.

"Wow, your gorgeous." Regina said.

Stephenie chuckled.

"Nice to meet you." Stephenie said.

"Oh...of course. It's very nice to meet you too." Regina said and bowed gracefully.

"And this is Veronica and her newphew Danny. We battled and they were worthy opponants." Kale said.

"Hey." The two said. Veronica in a deadpan way and Danny in a bit of a shy, distant way.

"Nice to meet you two." Stephenie said.

Stephenie took everyone's pokeballs and put them into the accelerated healing machine. it was a device that would heal most wounds taken in a normal pokemon battle, where Pokemon were not seriously trying to harm one another. Technically the pokemon could heal naturally from these wounds, but it was a bit of a slower process and could make pokemon a bit uncomfortable. Thus the accelerated healing machine was invented to make sure these wounds were taken care of quickly.

"It should take about 30 minutes for this to be done. Why don't you wait in the lobby or head to a nearby store?" Stephenie reccomended.

They waited in the lobby while the machine was on. Kale took the time to flip through an old Contest magazine. It was one he'd read before, but it was a good one, with recaps and bios of some of his idols in the contest league. Brendan and May, the fabulous masters of cute and cool. Elesa, whose pokemon radiated elegance and beauty. Murphy, the duke of toughness. And of course, Dakota, whose clever pokemon had no match. These were among the most gifted coodinators in the entire world and he had been watching their contests on TV since he was very young.

Pokemon battles were captivating to him as well, but there was something about the performances that one could put on in contests. The many different ways they could be arranged and graded on. The different rules and specialties. It was thrilling and he had always known that being a world-class coordinator is what he wanted to pursue over everything else.

Regina and Danny were watching the TV. It was on a pokemon battling channel. The volume was low but there were subtitles, and it didn't really matter too much what the commenters were saying. It was an old match, Regina didn't know too much about the history of Pokemon battles, but she could tell by the video quality. A boy in a red hat with a Charizard was facing a man in a blue shirt with a Blastoise. Despite the Blastoise clear type advantage, the Charizard currently was holding his own, possibly forcing the Blastoise on the backfoot by outmaneuvering and overpowering the massive turtle pokemon.

"Ah. There playing Red vs Blue 1. That's a classic." Kale said, looking up from his coordinator magazine.

"Yeah it is! It's incredible." Danny said.

"I never understood why it ends like it ends." Veronica said.

"Sh. I think Regina here is watching it for the first time." Kale said.

Regina was barely listening to them. Her eyes were glued to the screen. Red's Charizard flew through the air, blasting the Blastoise with Flamethrowers while dodging the Blastoise's Hydro Pumps, Bubble Beams and Water pulse's.

"So this is...what high-level battling looks like." Regina said in awe.

"You haven't seen any pokemon league tier battles huh?" Kale said.

"No. Only local battles really. A few gym battles. Nothing quite as spectacular as this." Regina said.

"Yeah, it's amazing. This one...never quite gets old. It's the first time these two battling genius's fought on a national stage. It's debatable as to whether it's their best but most people find it thier...purest. The most raw. Their's a lot of emotion in this battle. Lots of strange decisions. You're sorta catching it-" Kale said. He was about to add more. Really go on more of a monologue then he already was going on. But suddenly the TV turned off.

"Wh-what happened?" Regina said.

"Man, it was just getting to the best part." Danny said.

"Huh. That's weird. Thought, Stephenie had fixed the tv." Kale said.

Then the lights went out completly.


	11. Chapter 11

There were a few minutes of confusion. Talking more to fill the anxiety then truly figuring out what was going on. In a few moments, they had all taken out their cell phones and put on their flashlights. Which at least allowed them to see each other.

"W-what the heck is going on." Danny said.

"This is...really strange. The tv...that thing has been on the fritz for ages. It was always breaking down or changing channels, weird glitches like that. But I've never seen a blackout here." Kale said.

"Shouldn't the auxiliary generator be kicking in?" Regina said.

"It definitly should. We should find Nurse Joy." Kale said. It was strange she didn't come rushing back out into the lobby. They got up and checked the counter. But she wasn't there.

"She must have gone to the backroom, or to the infirmary." Kale said.

"Uh...I think this machine is still on." Veronica said, pointing to the Accelerated Healing machine, which still glowed with light and emitted that faint hum that told Kale it was working.

"Guys, why did you turn the lights off in here?" Stephenie asked, as she stepped out from the backroom.

"We didn't. They just turned off all on their own." Kale said.

"That's weird. Lights weren't off anywhere else." Stephenie said. She tried turning them back on. Didn't work, no matter how many times she flipped the switch.

"I should check on the infirmary to make sure the equipment there is working." Stephenie said. Grabbing a flashlight from below the counter.

"Want me to come with?" Kale said.

"No, you guys should stay out here." Stephenie said and she headed into the infirmary.

And so the group waited in the lobby for several minutes, barely breathing for the tension that had settled.

They heard the door open and then shut.

"Everything was fine. Only the lights seem to have died." Stephenie said.

There was a sudden loud banging noise and Kale practically leaped into Regina's arms.

Then the lights turned back on.

Regina looked paler than usual. Veronica was shaking. Danny was staring at his shoes, trembling.

"Well, that was weird." Stephenie said, smoothing her skirt. For a moment Kale thought he had seen her composure break.

"Kale are you...alright?" Regina said.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just...was shocked. Surprised by the noise and all." Kale said, quickly untangling himself from Regina.

"There's your pokemon. Please come again soon." Stephenie said, giving a professional bow after she handed them their pokeballs.

The party left, still not sure what had taken place, and feeling a mixture of embarrassment and the lingering tendrils of fear.

"What was that...do you think?" Regina asked.

"I don't know. It was strange whatever it was. Wasn't the first time I saw strange things happen around here either." Kale said.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Regina asked.

"Well..." Kale began. Then his house came into view. Judging by the time they had made it in time for dinner.

"You know Elmvale does have a diner. Want to go there inste-" Kale said, wanting a chance to avoid potential embarrassment.

However before he could get the sentence out, his father had come outside. He must have spotted them through the window. If only he hadn't been distracted from that incident at the pokecenter, he might have extended his offer to delay coming back home a bit sooner.

"Hello dear! Home already? I thought it would have been longer than that." Kale's father said.

"Hey...dad. I uh...brought some friends over." Kale said.

"Oh I see. That's lovely. Dinner is on. Everyone should come on in." Willow said.

"That's a nice dress you have on." Veronica said.

"Thanks dear." Willow said.

Danny blinked.

"That's your dad?" He asked Kale.

"Yes. He just likes wearing women's clothing." Kale said.

"Oh. Ok." Danny said.

"Be a bit more considerate Danny." Veronica said.

"No. It's fine. Your hardly the first person to ask." Kale said.

"I wasn't trying to start anything." Danny said.

"Enough chattering. You wouldn't want dinner to get cold." Willow said and he sashayed back in side.

Veronica looked from Willow to Kale.

"So uh...do you take after your father?" Veronica asked. Yew blushed and put his hands in his pocket.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Kale said and rushed to follow his dad. He didn't want to wait for any additional questions.

Dinner was delicious as Kale was accustomed to when his father did the cooking. The main dish was curry, a dish his father was exceptionally good at. There were several side dishes, a fact that made Kale suspect that Willow had a fairly good notion that he was coming back.

"This is so good." Veronica said.

"I can't just get enough of it." Danny said.

"Thank you so much ," Regina said.

"Just call me Willow, dear." Willow said.

"So...your friends are trainers too I presume." Yew said.

"Yeah. Not bad either." Kale said.

"We wanted to come for a pokedex and anything else you might want to provide." Veronica said.

"Of course. I can use as many trainers on the trails as I can. I'll make sure you get what you need." Yew said.

"Thank you." Veronica said.

"Yeah. We won't let you down. We'll become great trainers. You'll see." Danny said.

"I'm sure you will." Yew said.

They finished eating and Danny and Veronica were shown to the guest room. Kale and Regina slept in Kale's room.

"If you want you can take the bed and I can take the sleeping bag." Kale said.

"Oh no. That's your personal bed. I wouldn't want to intrude." Regina said.

"Well, if you're sure." Kale said.

Kale took a bit to fall asleep. Being back here in his own bed felt like a regression. He knew that if he wanted, he could easily just stay here. Help out around the house and with his parent's work. Live a fairly low key life. The thought made him itchy and uncomfortable. He didn't want a mundane comfortable life. He wanted a journey that would push him, into discomfort, danger even. Force him to excell. An adventure full of battles and contests and all sorts of challenges.

Staying here wouldn't help him accomplish that. So he'd have to leave as quickly as possible.

He wouldn't be leaving though without Regina. The thought had entered his mind. But that would mean forsaking friendship because it might be complicated for the more simple life of struggling through on his own. That would be weakness. That would be selfish too.

So come the morning they were leaving and pushing hard to the nearby woods.


End file.
